UPDATE 2-Aruba Q3 beats Wall Street; sees strong Q4

* Q3 adj EPS $0.08 vs $0.07 est.

* Q3 rev $69 mln vs $65.5 mln est

* Sees Q4 EPS $0.09 vs est. $0.08 (Recasts; adds conference call comments, details)

May 19 (Reuters) - Aruba Networks Inc (ARUN.O) posted a strong third-quarter profit and forecast fourth-quarter results above estimates, as the wireless LAN provider continues to see customers divert budgets from wired networks to wireless solutions.

The company, which supplies equipment for secured wireless networks used in offices, forecast fourth-quarter earnings of 9 cents a share, excluding items, on revenue of $71 million to $73 million.

Analysts on average were looking for earnings of 8 cents a share, before items, on revenue of $69.8 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

"We believe our technical advantages over all of our competitors have never been stronger and expect to continue to gain market share," Chief Executive Dominic Orr said on a conference call with analysts.

The company, which is the No. 2 wireless LAN services provider after Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O), also competes with Hewlett-Packard (HPQ.N), Motorola MOT.N and other smaller private companies.

During the third quarter ended April 30, Aruba added 700 customers, including a branch of the Brazilian government and a national dining chain in the United States, raising its total customer count to more than 10,000, the company said.

Aruba expects to expand its presence in China and wireless services for smart meters through its acquisition of Azalea Networks. [ID:nWNAB8530]

For the third quarter, the company posted a net loss of $5.3 million, or 6 cents a share, compared with a loss of $5.8 million, or 7 cents a share, a year ago.

Excluding items, Aruba, which earned 8 cents a share.

Revenue rose 51 percent to $69 million.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 7 cents a share, excluding items, on revenue of $65.5 million.

Shares of the company closed at $11.57 Wednesday on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Manasi Phadke in Bangalore; Editing by Unnikrishnan Nair)